


Fraught

by demonsushi01



Series: Stoneheart: Side Stories [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Allura is a Princess, Alternate Universe - Medieval, F/M, He's very much in love with Pidge, Hunk and Romelle are platonic bros, Hunk likes to think my dudes, Lance is a prince, Lots of internal monologue, POV Second Person, and they're all in a castle, but hoo boy, mainly because Shiro is a king, my goodness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-24 16:34:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21961006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/demonsushi01/pseuds/demonsushi01
Summary: fraught - /frôt/adjective1.(of a situation or course of action) filled with or likely to result in (something undesirable).2.causing or affected by anxiety or stress.--Side story for Stoneheart, told from Hunk's perspective of the events from Chapter 18, do recommend reading that before reading this.
Relationships: Hunk & Romelle (Voltron), Hunk/Pidge | Katie Holt
Series: Stoneheart: Side Stories [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1580962
Comments: 2
Kudos: 20





	Fraught

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Stoneheart](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17467529) by [demonsushi01](https://archiveofourown.org/users/demonsushi01/pseuds/demonsushi01). 



> Hey-o!  
> Merry Xmas ya hooligans  
> And in the Christmas spirit have some insight from other characters from Stoneheart! I know yall will be with your families perhaps and might need something to do while you wait for dinner or have as a buffer
> 
> We have a slice from Hunk's perspective from Chapter 18, it would be wise to read it so you know what's going on here.

You’ve always been called a bleeding heart by Pidge, though you personally prefer the term empathetic. It’s not generally an issue. It’s helpful when you need to interact with people, allowing you to feel and understand them and their issues or lives. But sometimes, _sometimes_ , it can be an issue. 

Specifically in situations where, for example, someone gets sick. And when Lance throws up on the floor in the study your own stomach churns and bile creeps up your throat. You find yourself gagging and struggling to keep your lunch down. Romelle quickly wraps her arm around you and hauls you out. 

She rubs your back as you struggle to get ahold of yourself. Honestly, Romelle is a sweet lady, and you have no idea what caused Pidge to suddenly be a jerk to her. You have no doubt that Romelle would probably rather be helping her crush, soothing _his_ back, but instead, she’s here helping you. Mr. 280 pounds of nausea.

Pidge opens the door not too long after, struggling a bit under Lance’s weight as he stumbles on weak legs. You swallow down another wave of nausea and walk over to the two and easily pull Lance into your arms. Romelle goes to reach out and touch him but Ulaz gives her a soft glare. She folds her hands over her chest, pressing them into her heart. 

Thace asks a maid to help him find some cleaning supplies as Ulaz marches with determination down the hall. You follow after him, Pidge and Romelle flanking you. You look down at Lance when you feel him shiver, you hope Ulaz can help him. Romelle manages to dart before your group to get Lance’s room opened up.

Ulaz waves for you to lay Lance down on his bed. You frown at the sweat that’s already formed over his brow. Though you don’t get to stay long in here, Ulaz very quickly shooing you all out. And in the hallway, the three of you stand awkwardly for a moment in front of the closed door.

“I’m glad we were able to help, though it wasn’t by much.” Romelle looks over to you. “It must come in handy to be as strong as you are, I definitely wouldn’t have been able to carry Lance like that.” She smiles. You’ve never been that great at accepting compliments, your face burning bright red.

“Well, uh, you’re a quick thinker you know. Getting me out of there like you did.” You rub the back of your neck. 

“Where the fuck were you two?” Pidge hisses. You give them a confused look. They’re still glaring at Romelle and your headband tied in her hair.

“We were where you last saw us. In the kitchen, making tea for Lance’s throat.” Romelle tells them. They roll their eyes, crossing their arms over their chest. 

“I thought you were the _Princess’s_ handmaid, not Lance’s.” They say. Romelle flinches away from them. You recall her talking to you about last night’s events with the King and Princess while you were waiting for the water to boil. 

“Handmaid or not, she’s Lance’s friend too!” You point out. Romelle gives you a broken but thankful smile, you give her one back. 

She had also confessed to you while out in the garrison, looking for the clues of the Be-- Keith, her feelings towards Lance. You promised then and you plan on keeping it, that you wouldn’t breathe a word of her crush to anyone. At least until Lance is ready to do whatever it is he told her he’d do about it. Pidge clicks their tongue and huffs.

“So you’re just trying to get his attention, but honestly it’s a bit sad at how hard you’re trying,” Pidge says. You give Pidge a look, where this attitude of theirs is coming from, you’re not sure. It’s almost like you’re looking at someone else. A glance at Romelle shows you that she was definitely hurt by what Pidge said, and you honestly can’t blame her. 

“We should probably head home.” You end up saying. If nothing else it’ll get Pidge away from Romelle for the time being. 

“Agreed.” Pidge grunts. Romelle nods, reaching up to her braid and untying your headband. She hands it back to you.

“Thank you for letting me borrow it.” She threads her fingers through her hair, undoing the braid as she goes. 

“Of course.” You say, tying it around your wrist for now. 

“I’ll go check on the Princess. No doubt she’s heard what has happened to Lance by now.” She looks at Lance’s door and hesitates. 

“You could wait until Ulaz has information for you? That way you can reassure her?” You offer. She nods, causing the three of you to wait in silence for Ulaz. 

At some point, Thace showed up. He gave you a feeling of reassurance and a sense of calm. He usually does. He enters Lance’s room so casually and closes the door behind him. You can hear the soft murmur of the two of them talking, and find yourself wishing you’ve been able to hear it. 

Not for the sake of eavesdropping mind you, but more the sake of ensuring he wouldn’t lie to you about Lance’s health. Not that he couldn’t just lie about it regardless. After what feels like an eternity, both Thace and Ulaz step out of Lance’s room. Ulaz warns you to not get too close to Lance and to make your visit brief. 

You and Pidge step into Lance’s room to tell him goodbye, while Romelle asks Ulaz a few questions so she can talk to the Princess and assure her worries. Lance, for the most part, is unresponsive at best. He manages to tilt his head towards you when you speak but makes soft almost inaudible sounds in response. You hope he is better come Monday morning. 

Pidge is silent as the two of you take the back entrance to the castle as you usually do. The grounds crunch softly under your feet and the two of you wait in the cold for the staff to ready a carriage for you when you ask. Pidge rubs their arms to keep warm while you wait. Your mind starts ticking though, going over everything that happened since Lance came to Stoneheart. 

Firstly, you made quick friends with the Prince, far faster than you had with anyone else before. Said Prince then turns around and offers to help you in the hunt for “The Beast”, a.k.a. Keith. This Prince then trusts you and your best friend enough to confess his Quintessence sensitivity and then _immediately_ finds you a way into Keith’s room. 

Then, Lance is using his resources in the castle to help you continue to find Keith. At some point during all this, he and Keith met while you and Pidge weren’t around. The two of them forming a fast friendship as well and start keeping secrets from you. Lance then introduces you to Romelle, a fun and sweet girl who’s got quite a brain to her. The two of you bonding over similar feelings about people you can’t currently be with. 

You glance over to Pidge and watch as they tap their foot a bit impatiently. Romelle had promised to help you get them, but Pidge is clearly making it impossible. Perhaps the two of you just aren’t meant to be together. Perhaps you should let it go. While your brain understands this thought well, your heart can’t seem to get on the same page. It’s still clenched painfully tight around Pidge. 

“What’s up with you?” Pidge asks when they notice you staring. 

“Nothing.” You say. They frown but drop it for the time being. 

You think it’s safe to say these feelings you have for them no longer count as a crush. You should know. You’ve had your share of crushes before. You crushed on Shay, sharing Balmeran culture back and forth in a school full of people who teased the two of you for the halting way you both spoke. She shared her rock collection with you and you shared juice boxes with her. 

But that faded eventually, shifting and morphing into a friendship that you’ve had since then. It’s the same story but with a different person each time. A hard crush brought by common ground and sharing of personal items that faded to platonic feelings after a few months time. But Pidge is different.

You’ve known Pidge for three years now, and for three years you’ve been having some feelings for them. Some days it’s a gentle reminder, others it’s so staggeringly strong it leaves you breathless. Three years of looking for Keith didn’t change it, finding Keith didn’t change it, learning about Keith being a pretty okay guy didn’t change it. A part of you figured it would, but another part of you is relieved that your feelings haven’t changed for them now that you’ve accomplished your goal.

The carriage pulls up and you help them into it, sliding into the seat across from them. It’s at this point you notice that they’ve been trying to talk to you, most likely resorting to just talking for both of you due to your lack of response. You shake your head and try to refocus back onto the one-sided conversation. 

“I mean, the guy survived his back being melted off during an assassination attempt, he should recover fine from some swamp bug right?” They shrug.

“Uh, yeah. He should be.” You had forgotten about the thick scar over Lance’s back. “Man, the life of a royal must be much harder than we give it credit for.”

“What do you mean?” Pidge nearly falls forward when the carriage lurches and starts making its way.

“Like assassinations, political studies, social standards. Did he mention to you that King Shiro and Princess Allura can’t be left alone in the same room?”

“I wonder how anxious that must make Lance, to not be engaged then.” Pidge hums. “With it considered such a big important thing for royals.”

“Maybe he doesn’t want to be? He could like someone already.” 

“Yeah, he seems _super_ into Keith.” 

“I don’t know about that. I mean, he said they were just friends.” You point out. Though it’s hard to ignore that something _might_ be starting to brew in them with the glances they give each other. 

“Yeah but, lots of people _say_ that when they’re completely gaga over someone.” Pidge shrugs, looking out the window. 

“Maybe.” You know you do.

“I mean, just look at Romelle. She says she’s only friends with people but then is just all over them. Like, tone it down, you’re embarrassing yourself.” They scoff. 

“Why are you so mean to Romelle?” You snap. You just don’t understand it. This isn’t the friend you’ve come to know in the past three years, isn’t the person you fell foolishly in love with. Pidge jerks and blinks owlishly at you.

“What?”

“Why are you so mean to Romelle?” You ask again. They don’t respond, color draining from their face. You shake your head. 

“You’ve been defensive since you first met her, you go out of your way to exclude her. You’re antagonizing her to the point of endangering her position as the Princess’s handmaid. You’re snappy and sassy.” You start listing off. “The way you snapped at her over my _headband_ was not cool at all. And you did it again before we left, and again just now behind her back.” You run your fingers over your headband secured to your wrist. You pause long enough to let Pidge try to get a word in, or at least digest what you’ve said.

“I have standards for the way my friends are treated. I wasn’t going to let the Beast, sorry, _Keith_ , talk down to you. I’m not going to let you talk down to Romelle either and be rude to her.” You pin them down with a look. Pidge is tightly gripping the seat they’re on, barely breathing. Normally you’d stop it here, but like a bottle that was shaken, the release of pressure releases all the thoughts you have.

“How can I expect you to be nice to my partner one day, if you can’t even be civil with the friends we don’t have in common?” They flinch under your words, hurt. “I know it takes you some time to open up to people. And maybe you only opened up to Lance because you knew he’d help us find Keith. And, really, if that’s the case, that’s like not good.” You rub your forehead. You can see they’re trying to make some words or sounds come out but there’s nothing. 

“I _know_ you can be super cool to be around. But Lance is going through a lot, and soon so will our kingdom. A lot of things are going to be changing. Not just because of the King’s wedding but also because of Keith. It’s all going to get very complicated very quickly.” You sigh heavily and they look down at the floor. Their jaw is now clenched tight. 

“So please, save me some stress and play nice with those who are trying their best to include us and keep us not only _safe_ but in the loop too. Okay?” The carriage slows to a stop, and you know it’s outside your home, but you can’t leave yet. Not until Pidge responds.

“Pidge?”

“Okay.” They say, voice small and trembling. Their knuckles turn white as they tighten their grip on their seat. 

“Okay.” You repeat, running your hand through your hair. “I’m sorry I just…” You close your eyes and take a deep breath. 

“S’fine.” Pidge grunts. “Your parents are waiting for you.” 

“Pidge…” You go to reach out for them but they pull away.

“Night Hunk.” They say, looking back out the window. 

“.... Good night, Pidge.” You frown but get out of the carriage. You watch it pull away with an awful taste in your mouth and your heart heavy. 


End file.
